This is Brayan, one of our first grade students here at the Makarios School.

About four years ago, Brayan and his mom moved from a Haitian community to Pancho Mateo, one of the villages our school serves. His mom spends long hours walking to nearby towns selling fruits and vegetables from a basket she carries on her head. Unfortunately, this means Brayan spends a lot of time alone in his home without much supervision from anyone. Having grown up in a community where Haitian Creole was spoken and having a mom who only speaks Creole, Brayan didn’t know any Spanish when he moved to Pancho Mateo. He had never been to school prior to Makarios and was never fully immersed in a Spanish speaking environment. When Brayan was first enrolled with Makarios two years ago, they worried he might not make it through the year due to his lack of Spanish and how much he was falling behind because of it. It is a requirement that our students speak Spanish because we are a Spanish instructing school. This is part of our goal to help them succeed in this society and to open doors for more opportunities for their future. Throughout his first year, his teachers worked with Brayan on his Spanish to ensure he could stay with Makarios and succeed at our school. One of our Creole speaking staff members would even help translate for his teacher at times. Now Brayan is completely fluent in both Creole and Spanish and is finishing up his second year at Makarios. He has grown so much since he first joined Makarios and is having a great end to the school year. He loves to read and write and has enjoyed learning how to add this year in math class, as well as learn about the Bible in Bible class. He attends church regularly in Pancho Mateo on his own and loves to learn about the Word. He says he wants to be a pastor when he is older so he can talk about the Word with others and work for the kingdom. We pray that this desire only grows from here, that he will continue to walk with the Lord all his life, and that he will one day preach the Word like he says! Join us in praying these things over Brayan's life.

Since joining Makarios, Brayan now has daily structure, is surrounded by a community that loves him, is taught the Word, is disciplined in a biblical way, is receiving a quality education, and has teachers who care about him and pray for his future. You too could be a part of the work God is doing through Makarios International. By sponsoring a student like Brayan you not only provide the means for them to attend the Makarios school and receive all the benefits it gives, but you have the opportunity to invest in a child’s life and come alongside us in providing them hope for a better future.